No, I'm not going to completely write off the Nationals after two games.Five? Ten? Maybe. Not two ... that would just be silly.
But not only is the Nationals' starting rotation threatening to mathematically eliminate them by June (Shawn Hill was barely better than John Patterson in a 9-3 loss to the Marlins tonight), but at this rate they may not have enough to field a team by July. First, Cristian Guzman and Nook Logan get hurt on Opening Day (both were placed on the disabled list), but Ronnie Belliard came perilously close to joining them. You wouldn't believe how:
He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, standing in foul territory near the batting cage. Belliard never saw the wayward, 100-foot throw from rookie catcher Jesus Flores that was intended for Brian Schneider. It was several feet off the mark and caught Belliard flush on the left temple He immediately fell to the ground. Manager Manny Acta yelled out, "Trainer! Trainer!" and all eyes turned toward Belliard, fearing something serious had happened. Fortunately, he was all right. Woozy, but all right.Good news for a team that could use all the good news it could get. But back to the starting pitching, it's one thing to give up thousands of hits to Miguel Cabrera (who's hitting .714) and Josh Willingham (three hits on Tuesday), but when the pitcher gets a couple of hits and an RBI, there's problems. Scott Olsen got the job done with the bat, and pitched relatively well despite five walks, taking a shutout into the sixth.
